Survey: Most ACC fans would give up alcohol for a semester in exchange for basketball title

Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A recent survey polled more than 1,000 college sports fans and found that most ACC fans would give up alcohol for a basketball title.

The team at StudySoup also found out that more than 50 percent of Southeastern Conference team fans surveyed would surrender a paycheck in exchange for a football championship. An SEC school has won seven of the last 11 national championships in college football.

StudySoup researchers found that 75.3 percent of SEC football fans considered themselves of the "diehard" variety, more than any other conference. Most ACC fans (71.1 percent), Big Ten (70 percent), Big 12 (65.2 percent) and Sun Belt (61.5 percent) also consider themselves diehard football fans. The ACC reigned supreme in basketball fandom, as 63.6 percent of their base considered themselves diehard fans in that sport. The Big 12 (53 percent) and Pac-12 (50.4 percent) also had more than half of their fans claim a diehard status.

Most SEC fans (81.3 percent) would prefer a football national title over a basketball championship (10.1 percent). The same goes for followers of the Sun Belt, as 80.8 percent of fans favored football. Fans of teams from the Big Ten (69.6 percent), Pac-12 (69.6 percent), Big 12 (63.6 percent), Mountain West (58.2 percent), Mid-American Conference (56.1 percent), AAC (66 percent), ACC (47.1 percent) and Conference USA (46.2 percent) said the same.

StudySoup's survey on college football fans. Photo courtesy of StudySoup.

More than a third of Sun Belt fans said they would fail all of their classes in a semester for a football championship.

Conference USA fans were most likely to give up alcohol for a semester and for a year for a football championship. Sun Belt fans were least willing to give up booze for a semester while MAC fans were least willing to give it up for a year or forever. Mountain West fans were most willing to give up alcohol forever for a pigskin title.

When it came to a basketball title, ACC fans (78.5 percent) were most willing to give up alcohol for a semester. AAC fans were most willing to give it up for a year (70 percent) or forever (58.3 percent). MAC fans were least willing to give up alcohol for any timeframe in exchange for a college basketball title.

The MAC has never had a school win the national championship in basketball.

StudySoup's survey on college basketball fans. Photo courtesy of StudySoup.

When it came to doing the most for a championship, Alabama fans led the football pack for SEC schools while Kentucky fans would do the most for a basketball title. North Carolina basketball fans would do the most for a title out of any other fanbase.